STARKVILLE, Miss. -
The Vols made a valiant comeback at No. 20 Mississippi State, but fell 62-58 at Humphrey Coliseum on Thursday night. Tennessee cut their deficit to two points in the final seconds, but were unable to complete the rally as the Vols fell to 8-8 overall, 1-1 in the SEC. The Bulldogs picked up their first conference win and moved to 14-3 overall.

Trae Golden led all scorers with 20. Jeronne Maymon netted 13 before fouling out. Kenny Hall added 12 points in his new role, scoring in double-figures for the second game in a row off the bench.

A Renaldo Woolridge 3-pointer with 44.2 left in regulation brought the Vols back to within two at 60-58. The Vols played tough defense on the ensuing possession as Skylar McBee stole a Bost pass and gave the Vols the ball with 16 seconds left in regulation. But Bost redeemed himself by stealing the ball from Golden 7.7 seconds left and finished a fastbreak dunk to punctuate the win.

Maymon's putback lay-in with 4:20 left cut the deficit to three, 54-51. But Rodney Hood answered with a jumper to gave the Bulldogs a 56-51 lead. Kenny Hall came right back with a hoop making it 56-53 with 3:20 left.

A Bost 3-pointer with 3:10 left provided a boost for MSU to retake a six-point edge, 59-53. Hall stuffed one home with 1:40 left cutting the Bulldogs' lead to 59-55.

Golden kept the Vols in the game throughout the second half as Tennessee hung around. UT cut the deficit to four on a Jordan McRae lay-up with 7:30 left in the game, making it 51-47 with an 8-2 run.

Mississippi State took a 36-27 lead at halftime, shooting 52 percent (13 of 25) from the field.

MSU finished the first half on a 15-5 run to lead by nine at intermission. Golden had nine points to lead all scorers in the first half.

The Bulldogs managed to keep their offense moving despite early foul trouble for Bost -- the team's starting point guard who owns the school record for assists. But backup DeVille Smith did a decent imitation, with five assists in 15 first-half minutes.

MSU extended its lead to 12 early in the second half on a 3-pointer by Jalen Steele, but Tennessee fought back thanks to three 3-pointers by Golden and stifling defense that limited Mississippi State to 36 percent shooting in the second half.

Tennessee was coming off its biggest win of the season -- a 67-56 home victory over No. 13 Florida in the conference opener -- but couldn't find enough offense to keep the momentum going.

Golden shot 7-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. But he mishandled the ball on the final possession, trying to go between the legs with his dribble before Bost slapped the ball away and ended the Volunteers' hopes for an upset.

The Vols return to action as they finish a three-game gauntlet against Top 20 teams with a match-up against No. 2 Kentucky at 12 p.m., on Saturday. That game airs on ESPN and can be heard on the Vol Network.